


Leave Only Footsteps

by InkSplotchedStars



Category: iKON (Kpop)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, And certain aspects are based off of events that happened in my life, And later on there might be implied sex, Basically they're all in hs and confused about themselves and life, But I never am going to write smut for this particular story, I might mention sex a few times, M/M, So please be respectful when we get onto the more touchy issues, Thanks, slight angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-21 00:52:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9524105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkSplotchedStars/pseuds/InkSplotchedStars
Summary: "Take only pictures, leave only footsteps."Seven different paths, seven different pairs of feet. Yet they all travel down those same high school hallways.(Cross posted on AFF)





	1. Chapter 1

Chanwoo padded quietly across the wooden floor. He shivered. The floor was freezing beneath his feet. 

"Mrow!" Little paws puttered excitedly behind him, causing the large boy to stop and pick up the small kitten. 

"Good morning Seungri," Chanwoo greeted the small kitten who squirmed in his arms. 

"Nrya!" Another insistent meow made Chanwoo set Seungri down and continue walking to the kitchen, so he could feed the cats. Seungri raced ahead of him, but paused every few steps to make sure his human still followed behind. 

"Nrya!" The meow was repeated as Chanwoo stepped into the kitchen. 

"Okay, okay, I hear you Jiyongie." Chanwoo told the small Siamese before reaching for the cat food. As the food clinked into the bowls, two more cats ran into the room. 

"Good morning Daesungie, Seunghyunie." He greeted the Russian blue and the white Bengal respectively. 

Chanwoo sighed and leaned against the counter. Something bumped against the back of his head. Without looking, he asked, "Aren't you going to eat Youngbae?"

The large, fluffy, brown tabby stared at him for a moment before turning to look at the pantry and then back at Chanwoo. 

"I'm not hungry."

Youngbae didn't move. 

"Really Bae, I'll eat later."

The cat still didn't move. 

Sighing, Chanwoo turned to make himself some toast. When he had finished, he noticed that the stubborn cat had already joined the others. 

A soft purring from the space around his ankles had him smiling as he munched on his toast. He picked up Daesung and moved back into his bedroom, placing the cat on the bed and reaching for his backpack. 

"What do you think?" He asked the blue cat. 

Brown eyes sparkled back at him happily as the cat purred loudly. Chanwoo nodded and ran his fingers through the soft fur, trying to calm himself. 

It didn't surprise him when Seunghyun was suddenly on the bed, the white cat couldn't seem to stay away from the blue for very long. What did surprise him was the time when he looked at his clock. 

"Ah shoot. I gotta go. Need to get there in time to finish enrolling." He mumbled. "Wish me luck guys." 

~

Chanwoo shivered miserably in his thin jacket. Around him other teens happily grouped up and mingled. 

Normally, Chanwoo arrived just in time to finish enrolling and find his first class on his first day at a new school. However, this time his enrollment had gone abnormally quickly, and the overly-friendly principal had pushed him outside to "make some new friends."

"Hey! Are you new?" A boy suddenly popped up in front of Chanwoo, causing him to stumble back in shock before nodding. 

"Cool! What grade?" The boy smiled brightly. 

"F-freshman," Chanwoo managed to stutter quietly. 

"Really? How fun! Need help finding class? Let me see your schedule!" The boy talked very quickly, but scanned over Chanwoo's schedule carefully. 

"Oh! We have the same first hour! How fun! I'm Donghyuk by the way, a junior. And yeah, we have class together! Our school is kinda different, all of our electives and some of the more advanced core-classes are mixed grade so you can meet all kinds of people! It's really great for making friends~!" 

Chanwoo had been wondering about it. He wasn't terribly sure about the making friends but though. 

The boy, Donghyuk, continued to talk as they reached the classroom. 

When they walked in the door, a group of four boys turned to look at them. Donghyuk smiled and waved at them. "Those are my friends," he explained to Chanwoo. 

Oh. Right. 

Chanwoo supposed that this was his queue to bug off then, and quickly scanned to room for a quiet place to sit. He was about to make his way over there when suddenly there was a hand on his arm tugging him towards the group of boys. 

"Hey guys! This is a new student. He's a freshman, so I figured that since he doesn't seem to know anyone he can sit with us!"

What?!

Chanwoo felt alarmed. Sit with them?!

"Uhm, Donghyuk?" One of the four boys interrupted cautiously. "Two things. One, did you ask him? He looks terrified. Two, you forgot to tell us his name."

Donghyuk bit his lip and turned to Chanwoo. "You'll sit with us, right? And uhm, what's your name?"

A boy with squinty eyes howled with laughter. "You forgot to ask him for his name?!"

"Bobby~" Donghyuk whined. 

"Chanwoo. I'm Chanwoo," he spoke quietly, half hoping no one would head him over Donghyuk and the laughing boy. 

However, the boy closest to him nodded at his words and quickly stood up, causing the other two to fall silent and stare at him. "He said his name is Chanwoo."

And then he sat down again. 

The first boy who had spoken scoffed. "Not going to introduce yourself? Fine then, I will."

He smiled kindly at Chanwoo. "I'm Yunhyeong, a junior. The rude-one-who-won't-introduce-himself is Hanbin. The hyena over there is Jiwon. Or Bobby. He answers to both. They're both juniors too. The short one is Jinhwan, a senior. And--" he stopped and looked around. "Is Junhoe not coming today?"

"Who knows?" Jinhwan snorted before glaring at Yunhyeong playfully. "And don't call me short. I'll break your kneecaps." 

"Well, you can meet Junhoe later then. He's a sophomore." Yunhyeong finished. 

Chanwoo nodded, trying his best to memorize the names and faces, of only so he wouldn't embarrass himself later. 

Thankfully, Chanwoo was spared from anymore conversations as the bell rang and his first day began.


	2. Chapter 2

As it turns out, Chanwoo had almost every class with at least one of the boys. The exception was his fifth hour, freshman comp. 

Even lunch hasn't brought much relief from the group of boys. Apparently at this school all freshman were paired with seniors to serve as a type of mentor or tutor. So at lunch a teacher had pulled him aside to introduce him to his senior, who'd turned out to be the short boy from his first hour. Jinhwan. 

The older boy had smiled gently at him, all the sarcasm from earlier hidden away. "Normally, I eat lunch with Donghyuk and everyone. But would you feel better if it was just us today?"

Chanwoo had nodded greatfully, and the two had found a quiet classroom where they could talk about the coursework the younger had been assigned. Soon enough though, the other boys had found and distracted them. 

Jinhwan had sighed. "Sorry. I'd say we could try again after school but I have work. What time do you think you'll be here in the morning?"

"Early-ish." Chanwoo said quietly, not completely sure himself. 

The eldest boy in the group smiled and nodded. "Then can we try again before first hour?"

Chanwoo nodded quietly and watched as the squinty-eyed boy with two names was chased by the boy in his third hour, Yunhyeong, for stealing the latter's lip balm. 

That had been over two classes ago. Now his fifth and last hour was ending. Chanwoo was grateful that there were only five class periods a day, even if they were 70 minutes each. It was strange that everyone referred to them as "hours" instead of "class periods" though. 

This school was all kinds of strange though, he thought as he wandered around after school had ended and the hallways had cleared. 

Chanwoo wouldn't be getting picked up for a while yet, and none of the rowdy boys was in sight, so he'd started exploring instead. Eventually he made his way to the back lawn, which seemed mostly untouched by other students. Autumn leaves were strewn about, and winter hinted in the air. 

A light crunch had him looking around cautiously. 

When he found the source, he decided that perhaps this school wouldn't be so bad. 

~

"So how was your first day?"

Chanwoo sighed as he slid into the car. "Fine I guess."

"Any friends yet?"

"Dunno."

"That's not a no."

"Are you dropping me off or can you--"

His mother sighed from the driver's seat. "Well. You know. First day. I've got to go back for a while."

Chanwoo nodded and watched the houses flash by as they drove down the streets, trying to remember their route incase he ever needed it. 

This was routine. Something he was used to. For every place they'd ever lived he'd done this. 

Finally they reached the house (Chanwoo had yet to think of it as home), and he jumped out of the car so he could slip through the front door, and watch his mother drive away through their windows. 

A cold nose pressed to his fingertips, and Chanwoo smiled at Jiyong. "Smell something interesting?"

The cat blinked up at him and sneezed. 

"C'mon. I'll feed you guys after I finish my homework."


	3. Chapter 3

Jinhwan sighed as he stared at the entrance to his workplace from the warmth of his car. Pulling himself together, he quickly made his way through the cold and into the small side door. 

"Jinannie!!!" He heard four happy squeals.

"Good evening ladies," he grinned at four of his coworkers. "What's up?"

Lisa wiggled her eyebrows at him. "You'll never guess who flirted with our Jisoo today when he picked up his dog."

"Was it old man Park?" Jinhwan wiggled his eyebrows back. 

"It was!!!" Rose and Jennie laughed as they went about with a nail trim. 

Jisoo herself blushed from the embarrassment. "He's just so old! Plus his dog has mange!"

"It was pretty bad flirting too." A fifth voice chimed in as one of the two veterinarians walked into the room. "Hey Jinhwan. How was school?"

"Evenin' Taehyung. It was fine. Need help giving vaccines?" He pointed to the animal in Taehyung's hands. The doctor nodded and they got to work. 

The hours rolled by both quickly and slowly. One by one, all the girls left until it was just Jinhwan left to feed and walk any animals left for the night. Once that was finished, he went about cleaning the floors and taking out the trash. 

"You know, they are supposed to stay and help you with that." Jinhwan looked up at his boss and grinned in a way he hoped didn't show how exhausted he was.

"I'm fine Jimin. They all needed to go. Ro--"

Jimin held up his hand. "I don't wanna know. If I know, then I have to make a judgement on it. Anyways, I've got one more treatment to give, if you'll help me real quick then you can go."

Jinhwan nodded. "Sure. Who is it?"

"Moon Suah. She should be in iso."

When Jinhwan had found her, he crouched down and picked her up gently. This was one of the things he hated about his job. The puppy looked at him with big, sleepy eyes and whined at him before nuzzling against his neck. 

"What's wrong with her?" He asked when he made his way back to Jimin. 

"Don't know. She can't use her back legs for some reason. Nothing's showing up on X-ray or in her blood. Pretty, isn't she?"

Jinhwan nodded, running his fingers through the puffy, soft puppy fur. "Distemper?"

"Hm. Don't think so. She's very sharp cognitively. And her tail wags like crazy. But I'm running the test anyways. Help me get another sample?" 

Jinhwan nodded and did so before putting the pup back in her cage. "I'll just feed Joonie and Jin before I leave."

At hearing their names, four small ears poked up from a ball of floof in the waiting room. The two office cats quickly made their way over as they heard food clink into their bowls. 

"Be safe getting home." Taehyung walked out of his office where he'd been on the phone. Lazily, he wrapped his arms around Jimin's waist. "Do you have to make any stops tonight?"

"Just to the store." Jinhwan smiled at the two doctors before waving goodbye. He didn't know how they managed to work together despite being married and not drive each other crazy. 

Settling into his car, he sighed as his heated seat kicked in and warmed his sore muscles. 

~

"Home," Jinhwan opened the door to his apartment and tiredly dropped his grocery bags in the doorway. 

Foot steps echoed down from his small living room and huge hands picked up half of the bags to carry them to the kitchen while he followed behind with the rest. 

In the cramped kitchen, the groceries were quickly put away and a pot of coffee started before he was being pulled away to his small couch. 

"Why didn't you come to school today?" Jinhwan asked in a quiet voice as he was pulled close against a muscular chest. 

"Sick." Was the deep-voiced reply. 

"Oh? Sick? Or just too hungover?" Jinhwan turned to look at the tall boy behind him. "Or, perhaps, there wasn't anything physically wrong with you. Perhaps, you were just too busy fucking around. There's lipstick on your collar and you reek of perfume."

There was silence. 

"Say something, Junhoe."

"What do you want me to say?" The taller's voice was deeper than normal. "I won't lie to you."

Jinhwan sighed and leaned back against the other's chest again. He closed his eyes and took a moment to revel in Junhoe's warmth. 

"I don't know." He finally admitted, voice as small as he felt. "What are we even doing? Wh--"

Junhoe's lips pressed against his own. Before Jinhwan could respond though, the younger pulled away. 

"Coffee's done. You take it with cream and no sugar, right?"

Jinhwan nodded meekly. He really didn't know how Taehyung and Jimin managed it.


	4. Chapter 4

"Do you have much homework?" Junhoe asked, leaning into his side. 

"Not too much," Jinhwan looked up from the essay he was finishing. "You picked an interesting day to miss though. Donghyuk made a new friend. He's a freshman. They made him one of mine, actually."

Junhoe quirked an eyebrow at him. "Oh? Is he cute?" 

Jinhwan snorted. "Yes. But not in the way you're thinking. And if you lay a finger on him I'll break your hand. He's... Sweet. Kinda innocent. Like a kitten."

The younger boy rolled his eyes. "Sounds like a bore."

"I like him."

"You would."

Jinhwan said nothing and took a sip of his coffee. 

"Hey, Jinannie." At the use of his pet name, Jinhwan looked up.

"What?"

"This apartment, you're allowed to have a dog, right?"

"One, yeah." Jinhwan looked over at Junhoe suspiciously. "Why?"

"I just don't like that you're always here alone." Junhoe replied. It was honest, which caught Jinhwan a bit off guard. Usually the younger didn't like sharing his concerns with the older. 

"Did something happen?" 

Junhoe sighed and ran his hand through his small hyung's hair. "I'm tired. Can we just go to bed?"

~

When he woke up in the morning, Junhoe was gone. 

This wasn't surprising. Junhoe never stayed. 

Jinhwan stretched, feeling the protest in his stiff muscles. There was probably fresh coffee in the kitchen, a small comfort as he showered and shrugged on a fresh sweater and pair of jeans. 

Taking out his phone, he checked the time and shot a quick text to Hanbin. He briefly wondered how early Chanwoo would be there and went to pour a cup of coffee. 

The apartment was cold, despite being so small. The warmth of his travel mug against his palms was comforting as he shrugged on a jacket. 

As he went to his car the air puffed around him from his breath. 

The drive was quiet, and leaves crunched under him as he hurried into the school. Chanwoo was already there, and Jinhwan happily took a seat across from him. 

The young boy gave him a small smile as they bent over his homework together. 

Suddenly, the classroom door banged open. 

Chanwoo jumped nervously at the sound, but Jinhwan just felt the beginning of a migraine. Footsteps made their way over and two completely unwelcome people stopped by them. 

"So this is Donghyuk's little playmate," Junhoe looked over the younger boy. Junhoe himself had another senior, Chaerin, hanging off his arm. 

"What do you want?" Jinhwan sighed. 

"Well," Chaerin smiled. "We were absent yesterday and just wanted to say hello to the new freshman."

She hadn't said it unkindly, and probably hadn't meant it unkindly. Chaerin was as friendly as she was beautiful. But Jinhwan couldn't help but tense up when her hand went to rub Junhoe's shoulders as she said "we."

"And he's not Donghyuk's playmate," Hanbin's voice cut through as he walked into the room followed by Bobby, as he often was. "He's our friend. Our maknae."

"Excuse me?" Junhoe sounded as shocked as Chanwoo looked. "I thought I was the maknae."

Chanwoo tugged on Jinhwan's sleeve and whispered softly, "We're friends?" 

"Did you not want to be?" Jinhwan whispered back. 

Chanwoo shrugged, but still looked a little lost. 

Jinhwan tried not to giggle. "Either way it's a bit too late. Hanbin's decided that you're one of us now."

Junhoe hadn't missed the exchange and glared venomously at Chanwoo. Chaerin seemed to finally sense that she did not to be in the middle of any impending fights and pulled Junhoe away. 

Hanbin sighed and looked at Chanwoo. "Well. That's Junhoe, a sophomore. You've officially met everyone."

Jinhwan's migraine was now full-bloom.


	5. Chapter 5

"Here, Hyung," Hanbin set a coffee down in front of Jinhwan as Junhoe walked away. 

"Jerk," Jiwon snorted as he flopped down next to the freshman. "You okay, kid?"

The tall boy nodded, looking nervous. 

"I'm sorry you had to meet him like this," Jinhwan apologized quietly. Hanbin doubted anyone other than himself and the freshman heard him. 

"It's not your fault, Hyung." Hanbin went to run the eldest's shoulders. "You know how June is. He'll get over it. Dear lord you're tense! Was work rough last night?"

"Not particularly," Jinhwan said slowly. 

"Where do you work?"

Hanbin wondered if the freshman would always speak so quietly. 

"In a veterinary clinic," Jinhwan smiled tiredly. "My aunt used to work there and I hung out there a lot as a kid. So the boss was ok with hiring me."

The boy's eyes grew wide and he suddenly smiled. Hanbin had to hold himself back from cooing and poking the dimples that suddenly appeared. 

"That's so cool! I love animals!"

Hanbin chuckled. It was cute how the boy got louder when he was excited. Like a little kid. "Do you have any pets then?"

The boy blushed and nodded. "Yeah. Cats."

"Oh! Cats?! Are we watching cute cat videos again?!" Donghyuk asked excitedly, followed into the room by Yunhyeong, who held a plastic bag. 

"We brought snacks," the older of the two said by way of greeting. "Chanu, we weren't completely sure what you'd like, so we grabbed you some strawberry pocky. That alright?"

Chanwoo (Hanbin was great full to finally be reminded of his name) nodded but seemed surprised the older two had thought of him at all. 

Looking closer at them as Yunhyeong handed Chanwoo the pocky, Hanbin burst out laughing. "You two look like twins!"

Together, four of the boys laughed at the spluttering duo as the bell rang. 

~

Hanbin frowned and glanced around the lunch table. "Where's Chanwoo?"

"He said he had something to do," Donghyuk pouted. 

"But maybe will join us again later," Yunhyeong filled in, laughing and leaning over to kiss Donghyuk's cheek. 

"So," Jinhwan looked at the couple. "If- and I assume we are- but if we are bringing Chanwoo into this friend group, when are you two going to tell him that you're a thing?"

Hanbin nodded and looked at the two boys. "You're going to, right?"

For once, Donghyuk seemed quiet. He and Yunhyeong shared a look. "Well, soon, we hope. But, he's a sweet kid and we don't want--"

"To scare him away," A deep voice rumbled from behind Jiwon. 

Hanbin glared harshly at Junhoe. "Ready to play nice yet?"

Junhoe nodded and sat next to Jiwon, scowling when the older boy enthusiastically slapped his back. 

"Well, it would be better to get this over with quickly then. That way you don't trust him too much if he bolts."

"It's a fair point," Jiwon finally spoke up. "Horrible. But fair."

Hanbin nodded. He had high hopes, and didn't actually think they'd be let down. But the way Jinhwan had seemed to shrink into himself this entire conversation reminded him of how things weren't always what they seemed. 

Suddenly, his phone rang. 

"Dude, who calls during school?" Jiwon asked, laughing. 

After a quick look at the caller ID, Hanbin frowned. "Who do you think?"

The laughter was cut off and the table fell silent. Hanbin wished the cacophony of his thoughts would do the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there. 
> 
> After a long internal debate, I decided to cross post this story. I hope you guys enjoy it. 
> 
> I plan to update as often as I can, but I get really busy so that might be limited. Meanwhile, Id really love it if ya'll shared your thoughts on this. :)
> 
> Thanks!  
> Ink


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey, you okay?" Jiwon looked worried. 

"Not really," Hanbin focused back on the road in front of him. 

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Nope."

"Okay." That was the nice thing about Jiwon. The two had gone to middle school together, and it was fair to say that the bunny-toothed boy knew him almost better than he knew himself. 

"So the thing with Chanwoo went well," Jiwon switched topics. 

"Yeah, I'm really glad." That was true. When Chanwoo had found them again at the end of lunch, long after Junhoe had snuck away again, Donghyuk had frantically asked how the younger felt about two of his things being in a relationship. 

The freshman had given them a strange look, nearly giving all the older boys a heart attack. 

"You and Yunhyeong-hyung?"

Donghyuk had nodded and looked close to tears. 

"That's cute." Chanwoo graced them all with his dimples again. 

Hanbin had chuckled and ruffled the tall boy's hair. "We're glad you're okay with it."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Chanwoo had looked confused. "It doesn't matter what gender someone is when it comes to love, right?"

Jiwon laughed from where he was now in the passenger seat. "He's innocent isn't he. Like a kid or something."

Hanbin hummed in agreement. "He doesn't seem very settled."

"What do you mean?"

"It's like he hasn't been able to grow into himself yet. Maybe he's moved around a lot and hasn't had the time to really settle down and figure himself out."

"Could be," Jiwon nodded as Hanbin rolled to a stop outside his house. "Hey, text me if you need me, okay?"

"I will," Hanbin promised. 

~

When he got home, Hanbin checked his phone and sighed. He'd made it a habit to keep the small device away from him while he was driving. A habit which proved once again to be handy when he saw the little notifications telling him that he'd missed about 50 texts and 20 calls from the same number. 

Hanbin sighed and blocked it, deleting the texts without even looking at them and wiping his call log. 

The house was quiet. Nobody would be home for hours. So as he pulled out his homework, Hanbin made sure to put in some music. 

When he was done with that he sighed and looked around. The house was too big, too quiet. So he pulled out a small linoleum plate from his bag, as well as a set of carving tools and went to fetch his hair dryer. 

He'd always liked making things. The printmaking class he was taking now helped him to distract and indulge himself, as he carefully carved an image out of the plate, stopping occasionally to blow warm air on the image to make the process easier. 

When his mother came home, it was with a great clattering of keys and bumping of bags. She glared at him for a moment. "Homework done?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Clean the table and turn off the noise."

Hanbin did so, watching as she dragged herself into her room and slammed the door. 

The sound echoed in the big emptiness around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! From here on out the chapters should be getting longer. Think of these first six as a sort of introduction. 
> 
> I'd love to hear some feedback. I feel like nobody really has any thoughts on this. Is it good? Bad? What can I do to make it easier to read?
> 
> Hope to hear from you soon. 
> 
> -Ink


	7. Chapter 7

Chanwoo groaned and reached up to make sure his nose was still intact before opening his eyes. Seunghyun was besides him on the bed, getting ready to slam his head into his owner's nose again. 

Quickly, the human boy sat up to protect his nose and watched at Seunghyun tried to charge at his now-absent form, didn't have anything to stop himself, and with a shocked sounding "Rouw!" fell off the bed. 

It almost sounded as if Daesung and Jiyong were laughing with Chanwoo from their places on the bed besides him. As Seunghyun tried to recover himself and his dignity, Chanwoo got himself out of bed to get ready for school. Because strangely enough, he was looking forwards to going to school. 

He'd never particularly loathed going to school, but he'd never really looked forward to school before either. Maybe it was because he'd never had anyone to look forward to seeing before. Moving around from town to town had never allowed him to make many friends. Really, a part of him knew that making friends here so quickly was strange and dangerous. If they-- No. When they moved again, Chanwoo would have to say goodbye. 

That's why he was going to enjoy this now, he decided as he went to feed the cats. 

~

Today he was early again. When he walked into his first hour, none of his friends were there yet. But seeing as he hadn't arranged to meet any of them he hadn't really expected them to be there. 

However, he wasn't alone either. 

Chanwoo tried desperately to avoid eye contact with the tall boy across the room. It wasn't wash though. The older boy kept looking over at him. And even though he knew that the other's called the sophomore his friend, Chanwoo wasn't sure he understood how someone so willing to be mean and fight with them could be their friend. 

The chair closest to him scraped across the floor, startling him. 

With wide eyes, Chanwoo watched as Junhoe flopped into the chair and grinned lazily. "Good morning."

"Morning," Chanwoo somehow managed to whisper back. 

"We need to talk," Junhoe's voice was really deep, and seemed to rumble around him like thunder. It was an intimidating sound, but also an estranged sort of familiar, like from a dream or memory. 

A memory. One of warm hands and umbrellas on rainy days. Of familiar eyes and the faintest scent of cigarettes woven into a work suit. 

"You're a good kid." 

The rumbling voice pulled him back. The stared at Junhoe, not completely understanding. Didn't the other boy hate him?

Junhoe chuckled. "I don't hate you, kid."

Chanwoo blushed. He hadn't meant to think aloud. "S-sorry."

"Do you even know what your apologizing for?"

Chanwoo thought for a minute and then shook his head. 

Junhoe laughed, and it was a nice sound. "No wonder Jinannie likes you so much."

"June, you're not picking fights again, right?"

"Nah hyung. I can be civil if I want."

"Yeah, but the thing is, you don't usually want to." Bobby sat down on Chanwoo's opposite side. 

"Hanbin isn't with you today?" Junhoe looked surprised. "Don't you guys carpool?"

"He's sick," Bobby seemed to scowl a bit, and Junhoe's shoulders tensed. 

"He gonna be ok?"

"Hopefully. He'll be home alone."

"That's good," Junhoe ruffled Chanwoo's hair as he leaned over to talk to Bobby. "Charting is sick today too, so I'll be sticking to you guys for today."

Bobby nodded and reached over to bump Junhoe's hand out of Chanwoo's hair and replaced it with his own, running his fingers through the youngest boy's hair. "There must be something going around. Be careful, okay kid?"

Chanwoo nodded. Funnily enough, he was enjoying the way it felt to have e his hair combed through like this. He'd expected the older boy to be rough and pull. Maybe it was just because he seemed so excitable. Instead, it was like Bobby was being careful with him. 

But when Donghyuk bounded in with Yunhyeong in tow, Bobby's hand disappeared. Chanwoo couldn't help. It be a little disappointed. 

~

His second hour was usually shared with both Hanbin and Bobby, and their usually busy table of three felt really empty with just the two of them. The remaining hyung seemed to sense this and moved seats so that they were side by side. 

A sudden yelp filled the room and Chanwoo jumped a bit in his seat. One of Bobby's arms came to wrap around his waist to settle him. 

"Mingyu! What the heck man?"

"Wonwoo was tickling me! Not my fault!"

Bobby gave the other boy a dirty look before turning to Chanwoo. "You okay?"

Chanwoo gave him a small smile. "Yeah. Thanks."

~ 

Third hour was always kind of crazy. Chanwoo had never been in a more energetic history class before. As he sat by Donghyuk and Yunhyeong, he wondered how he hadn't realized that the two were dating before. The amount of flirting and general cutseyness made him feel like gagging. 

As they packed up and waited to be dismissed, Chanwoo told the other boys he'd meet them for lunch late again. 

Yunhyeong frowned at him. "Chanwoo, you eat right? You don't avoid us because you're not eating, right?"

Chanwoo shook his head and pulled a brown sack lunch partially out of his backpack. "I'm just running a quick errand, hyung."

Donghyuk grinned and reached out to pinch the maknae's cheeks. "Good, because you're handsome just like this."

Behind him Yunhyeong nodded. "Ladies love chubby cheeks and dimples."

"Hyung!" Chanwoo whined as he turned scarlet and quickly separated himself from the two. 

Once he'd finally made his way out of the classroom and down the hall, the boy checked to make sure nobody was watching before heading to the abandoned courtyard. 

Before going outside, he checked to make sure the doors wouldn't lock him out and that, again, he wasn't being watched. Then he slipped out into the cool autumn air. As he walked to the center of the courtyard he rummaged in his bag for the extra supplies he'd started bringing. 

When he'd set everything down, he clicked his tongue. The sound cut through the silent air. And then he waited. 

As he watched, six sets of eyes appeared and regarded him before one of the six little corresponding mouths replied to him with a tiny "Mew!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I haven't mentioned it on here, but if you can't tell, I love sneaking cameos into this fic. ;)
> 
> So that being said, who do you think Chanwoo's newest lil friends are? I'll give you two hints. 1) One of the members has a sibling who was snuck into an earlier chapter already. 2) I chose this particular group for this particular role because that same member had/has a real-life impact on Chanwoo (and I'm living for the day I get to see them interact). 
> 
> And as much as I love Ikon, this group is my real bias group, so if you guess it right you will have my undying love. :)
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts! Please feel free to comment~ And a big thanks to those who have left kudos! It really makes me happy. :D
> 
> Love,  
> Ink


	8. Chapter 8

He watched as the kittens happily munched at the food he'd set out for them. 

"Mow!" The little blonde-colored kitten meowed at Chanwoo again. He smiled and carefully extended a hand for the tiny thing to smell. 

The kitten did so, and then happily rubbed himself against his fingers, chest rumbling with a purr. Chanwoo gently picked up the kitten and held its small form against his chest. 

"I need to name you," he murmured, watching as the other five slowly finished eating and clambered over to sleepily climb onto his lap. 

Chanwoo sat down the kitten he was holding and watched as he- all the kittens were he's- settled with his brothers in a colored mass of fluff. 

They were warm, and all seemed content to peer up at him sleepily as he rubbed behind their tiny ears and at the bases of their tails. 

"JinJin," he called softly as he pet the kitten he'd been holding. 

"MJ," a small brown kitten with orange smudges. 

"Eunwoo," the prettiest one, with creamy colored fur and light grey tips. A lilac point, Chanwoo vaguely remembered the coat type being called. 

"Rocky," a solid reddish-brown kitten with a tad bit thicker build. He seemed endearingly stocky for a kitten. 

"Sanha," the peachy colored kitten, on the other hand, had the lankiest build. 

He paused at the last kitten. He was a lighter brown than Rocky, but there was something wrong with this one's ears. They were folded over funny. But still, as he hesitated, the kitten looked up expectantly and stretched a paw out with a small crackly "Rouw!"

"Moonbin." Chanwoo smiled and reached out to give the needy kitten the attention he wanted. 

~

When the kittens had tired themselves out, Chanwoo carefully put them into a small box with a pillow he'd brought to serve as a cat bed. He then refilled the cat bowls (which hadn't really been completely empty anyways) and set them over to the side. 

Today was Friday. He thought he'd brought enough food to last the weekend, but he couldn't stop himself from looking worriedly over at them as he went back inside. 

He made his way to the lunch table the other boys liked. Bobby saw him heading over first and raised his arm to wave excitedly. Chanwoo grinned and went to sit in between Bobby and Jinhwan. 

"Hi hyungs," Chanwoo grinned happily. 

Jinhwan's small hand came up to ruffle his hair as he smiled softly at Chanwoo. "Did you finish running all your errands?"

Chanwoo blinked at the mathyung, realizing that something was off with the oldest boy's voice that he hadn't noticed that morning. "Are you okay hyung?"

He carefully laid his hand against Jinhwan's forehead. "Are you sick?"

Jinhwan laughed. "It's probably just allergies. I always get sniffly during the changing of the seasons. Thank you for your concern though."

The sentence was punctuated with a sneeze. Junhoe looked worried and quickly handed the shorter boy a tissue. 

"If you're not feeling good, you should stay home." It was stronger to hear the edge of concern in Junhoe's voice. Even though he realized that Junhoe was their friend, after yesterday's fight with the eldest boy he expecting things to be more awkward between the two. 

Jinhwan shrugged. "It's fine. I'm really too busy to be sick anyways."

"Promise you'll be careful though?" Junhoe seemed to insist. 

"Yeah hyung." Chanwoo nodded. "You can never be too careful."

"Seconded!" Bobby added cheerfully. 

"Well, technically Chanwoo was second. You're third." Yunhyeong corrected with a smirk. 

"Yah! What, are you some kinda math nerd?"

"You know it!"

Donghyuk burst into laughter at his boyfriend's proud expression, the rest of the table soon following suite. 

~

Chanwoo followed Jinhwan to their fourth hour. As he walked with the shorter boy, he couldn't stop the question that bubbled up in his throat. "What kind of person is Junhoe-hyung?"

For a moment it seemed like Jinhwan had t heard him. Then, as they settled into their seats the older said quietly, I suppose it depends on who you ask." 

"Oh." The younger one sat down and slumped forwards, leaning down so that he could lay his head on his arms. Jinhwan smiled softly and reached over to rub circles on his back. 

"Junhoe isn't a bad person. He's complicated, but who here isn't?"

The younger boy looked up at the older. Jinhwan seemed to be very far away in that moment, even as his hand slowly stilled against Chanwoo's back. 

~

There was a kind of quiet hush as school got out for the weekend. Not at all like his past schools, where children ran like herds of buffalo to escape until Monday. Students here sort of lingered behind, as if reluctant the leave. 

Chanwoo jumped a bit as a hand slapped against his back. 

"Hey kid, waiting for your ride?" Bobby flashed a gummy smile at him. 

Chanwoo nodded. "Sometimes she gets caught up at work and takes a while to get here though. What about you?"

"I'm catching a ride with my cousin. He goes to school not far from here, but they don't get out till late."

"Oh." Chanwoo nodded. "Then, maybe, if it doesn't bother you, can you wait with me?"

Bobby smiled and ruffled his hair. "It doesn't bother me. I'd love that, actually."

There was a comfortable quiet between them as other students played in the front lawn. "It's so busy here."

"Most kids here don't want to go home. This is the one place they can be themselves," Bobby explained. "Many kids and teachers here are more accepting of people's differences."

"People like Yunhyeong and Donghyuk?" Chanwoo had wondered how the two were able to be so open about their relationship. 

"Well, yeah but those two still get in trouble," Bobby grinned mischievously. "Too much PDA."

The younger boy burst into laughter, followed immediately by his bunny-looking hyung as his mother's car rolled into view. 

"I have to go. You gonna be ok hyung?" Chanwoo turned to the boy besides him. 

"Yeah kid. Have a good weekend, ok? I'll see you next week." Bobby swiftly wrapped his arm around Chanwoo's shoulders and squeezed before pushing the younger towards the car. 

"See you next week." Chanwoo was slightly breathless as he slid into the car. 

"A friend?" His mother asked, sounding excited. 

"Something like that." He grinned, looking forward to Monday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all those who have been patient with me and to all those who have commented on this story. School made it impossible to update, and while I can't make promises about summer, I have a bit more time and am hoping to get a laptop soon so there is hope. 
> 
> I apologize for the wait. I hope you know that no matter how long it is between updates, I won't abandon this story. My stories are like my babies. It's impossible for me to leave them. 
> 
> Thank you again for waiting,  
> Ink.


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